[2]
Now hear the apadāna of the Paccekabuddhas.
The Vedeha sage (Vedehamuni, i.e., Ānanda), bowing his body,
asked the Tathāgata as he dwelt in Jetavana:
"There are, it is said, those called Paccekabuddhas:
by what causes do they come to be, those wise ones?"
Then the supreme All-Knowing One, the Great Seer,
said to the good Ānanda in a honeyed voice:
"Those who have done service under all the Buddhas,
yet have not obtained release (mokkha) in the Victors' dispensations —
by that very door of urgency (saṃvega) those wise ones,
of exceedingly keen wisdom, even without Buddhas,
attain individual awakening (paccekabodhi)
even by means of a slight object.
In all the world, setting me aside,
there is none equal to the Paccekabuddhas.
Of those great sages I shall relate — hear it well —
but this fragment of their praise.
Desiring the unsurpassed medicine,
listen, all of you, with minds serene and confident,
to the good sayings, sweet as wild honey,
of the great seers who by themselves became Buddhas —
the declarations, handed down one after another,
of the Paccekabuddhas assembled:
the danger [they saw], the ground of dispassion,
and how they attained awakening.
Perceiving dispassion amid things that provoke passion,
their minds unimpassioned in an impassioned world,
abandoning proliferation (papañca), their waverings conquered,
right there they attained awakening.
Laying down the rod toward all beings,
harming not a single one among them,
with a mind of loving-kindness (mettā), compassionate for their welfare,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn (khaggavisāṇakappa).
Laying down the rod toward all beings,
harming not a single one among them,
one should not wish for a son — how then for a companion?
One should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
For one who has formed ties there are affections;
following upon affection arises this suffering (dukkha).
Seeing the danger born of affection,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Sympathizing with friends dear to his heart,
his mind bound to them, a man forfeits the goal.
Seeing this peril in intimacy,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As a sprawling bamboo thicket is entangled,
so is concern for sons and for wives.
Like a bamboo shoot, catching on nothing,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As a deer unbound in the forest
goes where it will for pasture,
so a discerning man, looking to freedom,
should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
In the midst of companions one is subject to calls —
in lodging, in staying, in going, on tour.
Looking to a freedom that none covet,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
In the midst of companions there are play and delight,
and love for sons is abundant.
Loathing separation from what is dear,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
At home in the four quarters, without repugnance,
content with whatever comes one's way,
an endurer of dangers, undismayed,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Hard to please are even some who have gone forth,
as are householders living at home.
Being unconcerned about the sons of others,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Putting off the marks of a householder,
like a koviḷāra tree whose leaves are shed,
a hero, having cut the householder's bonds,
should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
If one should find a prudent companion,
a fellow wayfarer, upright in conduct and wise,
then, overcoming all dangers,
one should wander with him, glad at heart and mindful.
If one should not find a prudent companion,
a fellow wayfarer, upright in conduct and wise,
then, as a king abandoning the realm he has conquered,
one should wander alone, like a mātaṅga elephant in the forest.
Surely we praise the excellence of companionship:
companions one's betters or one's equals should be resorted to.
Not finding these, enjoying only what is blameless,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having seen gleaming [bracelets] of gold,
well finished by a goldsmith's son,
clashing together, two upon one arm,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
"So too with a second beside me
there would be talk or attachment."
Seeing this peril in time to come,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
For sensual pleasures (kāmā), variegated, sweet, delighting the mind,
churn the mind with form after form.
Seeing the danger in the strands of sensual pleasure (kāmaguṇā),
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
"Calamity and boil and misfortune,
disease and dart and peril is this for me."
Seeing this peril in the strands of sensual pleasure,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Cold and heat, hunger and thirst,
wind and burning sun, gadflies and creeping things —
having conquered each and all of these,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As a great elephant, massive-shouldered,
lotus-marked, lofty, forsaking the herds,
dwells in the forest as long as it pleases,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
"It is impossible for one who delights in company
to touch even the temporary liberation (sāmayikā vimutti)":
heeding the word of the Kinsman of the Sun (Ādiccabandhu),
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Passed beyond the contortions of views,
arrived at the fixed course (niyāma), the path (magga) gained,
[knowing,] "Knowledge (ñāṇa) has arisen in me; I am not to be led by others,"
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Without greed, without deceit, without thirst,
without denigration, dross and delusion smelted away,
having become free of longing toward the whole world,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
One should shun an evil companion,
who shows what is not the goal, settled in the crooked way;
one should not of one's own accord consort with the engrossed and heedless:
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
One should resort to a friend of great learning, a bearer of the Dhamma,
eminent, gifted with ready understanding;
having understood the goods [of the way] and dispelled doubt,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Setting no store by play, delight,
or sensual happiness in the world, regarding them not,
refraining from occasions of adornment, a speaker of truth,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having left behind son and wife, father and mother,
riches and grain and kinsfolk,
and sensual pleasures, each and every one,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
"This is a tie; here happiness is slight,
gratification little, and suffering here is more;
this is a dart" — knowing this, a thoughtful man
should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Having burst the fetters (saṃyojana) asunder,
as a fish in the water breaks the net,
as fire does not return to what is burnt,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
With eyes downcast, not footloose,
faculties guarded, the mind well kept,
not oozing [with lust], not burning [with its fever],
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Casting off the marks of a householder,
like a pārichatta tree whose leaves are shed,
having gone forth wearing the ochre robe,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Showing no greed for flavors, not fickle,
supporting no other, walking on unbroken alms round,
the mind not bound to this family or that,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Abandoning the five obstructions of the mind (pañc'āvaraṇāni),
driving out all its defilements (upakkilesa),
independent, having cut off the flaw that is affection,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Putting behind one pleasure and pain,
and, even before them, joy and grief,
gaining equanimity (upekkhā) and purified calm,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
With energy (vīriya) aroused for the attainment of the supreme goal (paramattha),
the mind unshrinking, no sluggard in conduct,
firm in exertion, endowed with strength and power,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Not neglecting seclusion and jhāna,
constantly practising, amid dhammas, in conformity with the Dhamma,
comprehending the danger in states of existence,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Longing for the destruction of craving (taṇhā), heedful,
neither dull nor mute, learned, mindful,
one who has comprehended the Dhamma, assured, resolute in striving,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Not trembling at sounds, like a lion,
not caught, like the wind in a net,
not smeared, like a lotus by the water,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
As a lion, strong of fang, king of beasts,
lives by mastery, overcoming as it roams,
so, resorting to remote lodgings,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Cultivating in due season loving-kindness,
equanimity, compassion, liberation (vimutti),
and altruistic joy, unobstructed by the whole world,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Abandoning lust and hatred and delusion,
bursting the fetters asunder,
not trembling at the extinction of life,
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Men serve and consort with one another for a motive;
friends without a motive are today hard to find.
Wise for their own advantage, men are impure:
one should wander alone like a rhinoceros horn.
Of purified virtue, of wisdom wholly purified,
concentrated, devoted to wakefulness,
practising insight, seers of the distinction of dhammas,
let them come to know what is comprised in the path factors and the factors of awakening (bojjhaṅga).
Having cultivated the emptiness, the desireless,
and likewise the signless [liberations] in the Victor's dispensation,
those wise ones who do not pass to discipleship
become Pacceka Victors, self-become (sayambhū).
Great in dhamma, abounding in the Dhamma-body,
masters of the mind (citta), crossed over the flood of all suffering,
exultant in mind, seers of the supreme goal,
lion-like, like unto the rhinoceros horn —
their faculties stilled, their minds stilled, concentrated (samādhi),
their thought ranging over beings even in the remotest regions,
lamps blazing here and in the world beyond,
these Paccekabuddhas are benefactors of beings.
With every obstruction abandoned, lords of men,
lamps of the world, radiant as solid gold,
beyond doubt truly worthy of the world's offerings,
these Paccekabuddhas are ever fulfilled.
The well-spoken sayings of the Paccekabuddhas
circulate in the world with its devas.
Those fools who hear them yet do not act accordingly
go round again and again amid sufferings.
The well-spoken sayings of the Paccekabuddhas,
sweet as honey streaming from the comb —
those who hear them and then apply themselves to practice
become seers of truth, endowed with wisdom.
Lofty are the verses spoken by the Pacceka Victors
after they had gone forth;
these the Lion of the Sakyas, supreme among men,
has proclaimed for the understanding of the Dhamma.
Out of compassion for the world, these
wondrous utterances (vikubbita) of those Paccekabuddhas
were proclaimed by the Self-Become Lion,
for the increase of urgency, of detachment, and of understanding.
The Apadāna of the Paccekabuddhas is concluded.
The Second.
Third: The Apadāna of the Elder Sāriputta (1)
Now hear the apadāna of the Elders.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.